The First Night Back
by Nova Raven
Summary: It's Matt's first night back from his time as Shagon, and though he doesn't remember much that happened, that starts to change.


This happens in the same universe as my story All I Ever Wanted, but is not necessary to understanding this one.

* * *

It had been so hard to let Will go home, after all those weeks of seeing her but not being able to love her the way he wanted to, needed to. She hadn't wanted to let him leave either, but persistent calls from both their mothers eventually brought them home after a long, tearful see you tomorrow.

Everything seemed back to normal until he started undressing to go to bed. He pulled his sweater and shirt off to abnormally sore arms, but relished in the ability to even do so of his own free will. That was when he caught a glance of himself in the mirror.

The purple and black bruises on his chest caused him to pause, undershirt halfway off. He looked at himself in the mirror, pulling his shirt the rest of the way off and wandering over to investigate the angry marks on his chest. When did he get these?

He poked one, letting out a hiss as it throbbed. At closer look, they so closely resembled bite marks… human bite marks…

 _"_ _Oh Dear Heart, don't struggle."_ The sound of Nerissa's voice rang through his head so suddenly that he gasped and stumbled backwards.

 _Ice bit into his back and some unknown power kept him pinned to the slab as the former guardian circled him menacingly. He could feel aches in his bones and muscles, his body, under his control right now, so the sensations were all his._

 _"_ _Ask me to torture you again," Nerissa purred, running her nails up his bare chest, making goosebumps break out in their wake. Matt's head fell back, his eyes closing in defeat. Oh God, please not this again…_

 _He must have waited too long, because Nerissa's nails dug into the muscle on his chest, eliciting a startled yell of pain from the boy. "Ask me nicely Dear Heart, or I'll just have to do this to that guardian you're so fond of," The witch mused, and Matt's heart twisted at the thought of Will having to endure this pain, but his stomach dropped knowing what was coming next._

 _"_ _Don't hurt her," He whispered through heaving breaths, trying to brace himself. "Please… hurt me instead."_

 _A nail dug straight into his nipple, and Matt cried out, his back arching. Nerissa clicked her tongue in exasperation. "'Hurt me instead"… what?" She crooned, moving her hands up to cup his face, meeting his eyes._

 _Matt wanted to cry, but he closed his eyes and forced out, "Please hurt me instead… Mistress…"_

 _"_ _That's more like it."_

 _Agony._

"God!" His back slamming into something hard brought Matt back to awareness. "Ow!" But the pain of the impact was nothing compared to the agony it had brought him out of. He was gasping, heaving as though he had just run a marathon. What in the world…?

He put his face in his hands, trying to forget the feeling of Nerissa's hands on his skin. Where had that come from? He honestly didn't remember much from his time with Nerissa. He remembered her taking him, being turned into Shagon, and then starting to come back to himself near the end. Matt ran a hand through his hair, shakily getting to his feet.

He felt the temptation to call Will. He needed to see her face, hear her voice… But it was late, and he didn't want to disturb her. He'd caused her enough distress to last a lifetime.

 _"_ _Mistress, please!" Shagon was begging the next time Matt found himself aware again. Residual pain leaked in through the shields Shagon kept up to keep Matt from asserting control, and Matt realized that Nerissa was torturing Shagon._

 _"_ _They're just girls!" Nerissa yelled, "You fools can't even handle a bunch of teenagers!" Matt felt a sense of pride. Go Will, he thought happily._

 _The residual pain faded, and Matt watched Nerissa pace through Shagon's eyes. Shagon picked himself off the ground, and Matt could see Kor do the same. He felt a rush of hate at her torturing Huggles, even if it was through Kor. But then, Matt wasn't sure if there really was a difference between them._

 _"_ _The brat is awake," Shagon intoned dryly, and Matt swore to himself. He had hoped they wouldn't notice his mental presence._

 _"_ _He's getting more persistent," Nerissa mused._

 _"_ _Yes Mistress," Shagon agreed._

 _Was he? Maybe there was less of a gap between chunks of awareness now. Matt grinned internally. Witch couldn't take him out permanently._

 _"_ _Let him out," Nerissa commanded._

 _Both Matt and Shagon froze. "What?" Shagon asked._

 _"_ _Let him out," Nerissa commanded. Matt could sense Shagon's reluctance, then, felt the demon withdraw, taking its form with it. Matt collapsed to the ground in his human form, shocked to have control over his body for the first time in weeks._

 _He brought a hand to his forehead, but wasn't anticipating the blow to his cheek. "Ow!" He yelled, looking up at Nerissa in anger. "What was that for?"_

 _She was still looking at him, as though musing. "What do you want with me?" He asked, trying to sound strong but nervousness started to creep its way into his tone._

 _She smiled then, and simply said, "Run."_

Matt jolted out of bed with a cry. Panic made his heart race and his breathing fast. Feeling lightheaded, he finally gave into the urge to call Will. He just needed someone here, now.

She was still on speed dial. He held the phone to his ear, trembling as the dial tone rang, praying that she was still awake. His prayers were answered when her tired voice answered, "Hello?"

"Will?"

She must have heard the panic in his voice, because her next question was, "Where are you?"

"I… I'm in my room…"

He heard a whoosh and his eyes flew to the door of his room, where his girlfriend now hovered, fully Guardian'ed out, looking for trouble. "Matt, what's going on?"

Matt felt stupid suddenly, knowing what she must have thought. "I just…" It sounded stupid when he went to say it. "I just… had a nightmare and wanted to see you."

Will landed gently, and Matt watched her relax as she downshifted back into her froggy PJs. "I'm sorry," He said, feeling bad now. "I just…" And then his arms were full of girlfriend, and he hugged her back gently, trying to make his rapid breathing and racing heart calm down.

"It's okay," She whispered, stroking his hair. "I'm here, you're here, we're both okay…"

Her voice started shaking with emotion and Matt kicked himself for even calling her. He had just made her cry again, as if he hadn't done enough damage. "I'm so sorry I scared you," He whispered into her hair.

She shook her head. "No, no, its not that. I'm just really glad to have you back. Like, you, you, you know?"

Matt nodded, the warm reassurance of her body helping him to calm down. But as the nightmare retreated, a realization came forward. The nightmare had been a memory.

And then he remembered the scene that had followed; running, not knowing where to go but wanting to go somewhere, Nerissa cackling with glee and the other Knights of Destruction laughing alongside her, the torture that followed his capture… He felt sick.

He didn't realize he had started trembling violently until he heard Will's voice over the panic, "Matt, Matt, hey, hey Matt, come back to me, Matt, it's okay, you're okay…" Will's soft reassurances helped bring him back to the present, and he opened eyes that he didn't know had closed to see her sweet face in front of his.

"I'm sorry," He tried to apologize again, but Will just kissed him, still gently holding his face. He felt a rush of love for this girl and clutched her to him. It was thanks to her love that he was here now, free of Shagon, and he owed her so much for that.

Will's hands drifted down his chest. Matt made a pleased sound, and was content to continue with the kiss, but Will stiffened. Puzzled, he drew back to see confused horror on her face. Her gaze was fixated on his chest. He looked down to see what she was staring at until he realized…

"Did someone… bite you?" She asked, confusion in her voice. She ran her fingers over a mark lightly and Matt flinched as it stung. She drew her hands back quickly, looking at him for answers.

"I don't… I don't know…" Matt answered, looking at the blemishes on his skin. They were angry bruises, clearly made with some force, but for the life of him he could not remember where they came from. He just had a dark feeling that he didn't want to.

Will snapped her fingers and the overhead light came on, momentarily blinding them before allowed them both to get a better look at the marks. They looked worse than Matt remembered, but maybe that was just because Will was seeing them too.

"You don't know where they're from?"

Matt looked hard at the marks, but shook his head. "I don't remember a lot of what happened while Shagon had control. I guess this is just one of those things."

Will met his eyes. "So… what did happen? To you?" Matt looked down, not wanting to meet her eyes. "Matt? Do you not want…?"

"No," He interjected, "It's okay. I'll tell you what I remember." And he did, talking about his abduction from his home, how he became Shagon, and then a long dark period before he became conscious again before Battle of the Bands. He left out any mention of the torture flashbacks, opting to not worry Will over things he couldn't even explain to himself fully.

When he had finished, Will looked sick. Instead of speaking, she just wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I'm so sorry," She finally said, her voice tight. "We should have found you sooner, looking into it, questioned that Shagon might be lying to us… I should have…"

"Will, you're fighting a war," Matt interrupted. "You couldn't have done anything different. I don't even know if it would have made a difference." He looked down, "I'm not even that important anymore," He said quietly.

Will jerked back, and Matt yelped as several sparks jumped off his girlfriend to shock him. "Oh, sorry," Will apologized quickly, but she looked angry. "Matt, why would you think you're not important?"

Matt shrugged, trying to calm his hair down from the electrified state Will had turned it into. "Well, when your girlfriend and her friends are trying to save the world and all I did was make her life harder…"

"Matt…" Will sighed, "Stop."

"No, it's true!" Matt said, "There's nothing I can do to help. All I can do is get myself kidnapped and turned into a monster!" He was surprised at the volume his voice got up to during that rant.

Will looked as though she was about to raise her voice and argue back, but blew her bangs out of her face at the last second. "You couldn't have known any better," Will whispered finally. "Nerissa has fooled all of us. Hurt all of us. That's why we need to find a way to beat her permanently." She looked at him. "And I need you, Matt. You are the best thing to happen to me since coming to Heatherfield. You're my rock, and I…" She paused, her cheeks coloring. "Oh my God I'm a giant dork," She whispered to herself.

"Will…"

"I need you, okay?" Will put her hand on his chest, and suddenly Matt was overwhelmed with emotion. Not his emotions, but those relief, worry, stress at the guardian's next move, the burden of leadership and the heart, fear and love, all encompassing love for his boyfriend, wait… what?

Will gasped and drew back, and Matt realized that all the emotions that had bombarded him had been hers. Bewildered, he asked, "Did you just feel that?"

Will nodded, her eyes wide. "That's never happened before."

"I just felt all of your emotions," Matt clarified, and Will nodded.

"I got yours too," There was wonderment in her voice.

Matt was still struggling to keep up. His life never stopped, man. He was still overwhelmed by how much love he had felt from Will, and how much he wanted to show her that.

"Matt, I'm so-"

"I love you." There it was. Will froze, before she blushed darker than before. Once he was free to say it, he wanted to keep saying it. "I love you. I. Love. You," Matt tried out different variations on his tongue. "Will, I love you. Will Vandom, I love you-ooph!" Will tackled him, and kissed him so hard he saw stars.

She pulled back finally, smiling. "I love you too, Matt." There was the start of tears in her eyes.

"Oh, no, babe," He tucked her into his arms again.

She hugged him tightly, laughing despite herself. He smiled too, happy they could have at least this moment. Together, they snuggled down into his bed.

"We've gotta ask Yan Lin what that was at some point," Will said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Matt nodded, already drifting back off to sleep. "Yeah, but later. Now, sleep." And they both did.


End file.
